Muting microphones of physically colocated devices

Abstract

Examples disclosed herein provide the ability for a computing device to configure one microphone at a time from physically colocated devices to remain active for participating in a teleconference. In one example method, the computing device determines whether a first device with a first microphone on the teleconference is physically colocated with respect to a second device with a second microphone on the teleconference. When the first and second devices are physically colocated with respect to each other, the computing device configures either the first or second microphone to remain active for participating in the teleconference while the other of the first or second microphone is to be muted.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 determining whether a first device with a first microphone on a teleconference is physically colocated with respect to a second device with a second microphone on the teleconference by:
 comparing ambient noise collected with the first microphone with ambient noise collected by the second microphone; and 
 determining the first device and the second device are colocated based on the comparison; and 
 
 in response to the first and second devices being physically colocated with respect to each other, selecting the first microphone to be active for participating in the teleconference while causing the second microphone to be muted. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second devices on the teleconference are physically colocated with respect to each other when the first and second microphones are in proximity to each other for the first and second devices to be vulnerable to producing feedback. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second devices on the teleconference are physically colocated with respect to each other when the first and second devices share a geolocation. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first microphone to be active is selected based on a prioritization of the physically colocated devices. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the prioritization of the physically colocated devices is based on an audio certification or ability of each device from the physically colocated devices. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first microphone to be active is manually selected by a user from the physically colocated devices. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , comprising muting a previously active microphone of a device from the physically colocated devices when the user is to manually activate a microphone of another device from the physically colocated devices. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , comprising muting all microphones from the physically colocated devices when a location of the physically colocated devices is designated to be muted. 
     
     
       9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by a processor, to cause the processor to:
 determine a first device and a second device on a teleconference that are physically colocated with respect to each other by:
 comparing ambient noise collected with a microphone of the first device with ambient noise collected by a microphone of the second device; and 
 determining the first device and the second device are colocated based on the comparison; 
 
 select the microphone of the first device to be active for participating in the teleconference; and 
 mute the microphone of the second device. 
 
     
     
       10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the first device and the second device are physically colocated with respect to each other when the microphones of the first and second devices are in proximity to each other for the first and second devices to be vulnerable to producing feedback. 
     
     
       11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the first and second devices on the teleconference are physically colocated with respect to each other when the first and second devices share a geolocation. 
     
     
       12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the microphone of the first device that is to be active is selected based on a prioritization of the physically colocated first and second devices. 
     
     
       13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , comprising muting microphones from the physically colocated first and second devices when a location of the physically colocated first and second devices are designated to be muted. 
     
     
       14. A computing device comprising a processor to:
 determine whether a first device with a first microphone on a teleconference is physically colocated with respect to a second device with a second microphone on the teleconference by:
 comparing ambient noise collected with the first microphone with ambient noise collected by the second microphone; and 
 determining the first and the second device are colocated based on the comparison; 
 wherein the first and second devices on the teleconference are physically colocated with respect to each other when the first and second microphones are in proximity to each other for the first and second devices to be vulnerable to producing feedback; and 
 
 in response to the first and second devices are physically colocated with respect to each other, select the first microphone to be active for participating in the teleconference and cause the second microphone to be muted. 
 
     
     
       15. The computing device of  claim 14 , wherein first microphone to be active is selected based on a prioritization of the physically colocated devices.